Researchers at ²ÝÁñÊÓƵ Leicester (²ÝÁñÊÓƵ) have teamed up with the Donor Conception Network charity to help women who are thinking about donating their eggs to others for fertility treatment.
The ²ÝÁñÊÓƵ team made eight short films exploring various aspects of egg donation that are now being promoted by the Donor Conception Network (DCN), the first and largest UK charity dedicated to supporting donor conception.
The films which can be seen on the DCN website, as well as on the charity's Instagram, were made as part of the EDNA project led by ²ÝÁñÊÓƵ’s Centre for Reproduction Research. EDNA is a major ESRC-funded study exploring the social, political, economic and moral configuration of egg donation in the UK, Belgium and Spain.
The films feature real life egg donors discussing their personal experiences and should be of interest to anyone thinking about becoming an egg donor, anyone considering conceiving using donated eggs, or anyone who is a donor conceived person, as well as to educators, students and professionals.
Topics discussed by the donors include: their motivations for becoming a donor; advice they would give to other women; the physical changes their bodies went through; writing letters for donor conceived children to read in the future, and the prospect of being contacted by a child conceived using an egg donated by them.
²ÝÁñÊÓƵ’s Professor Nicky Hudson, Director of the Centre for Reproduction Research and leader of the EDNA Project, said: “We spoke to donors to understand what information they wish they had had, and understand what the experience was really like for them. We hope the films provide some valuable insight and really recommend that anyone with an interest in donation checks them out.”
Posted on Thursday 31 July 2025